Collapsible multi-cell cartons constructed from a single blank are well known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,652 issued to Kuchenbecker on June 19, 1962 which shows a six cell collapsible tray. Prior art trays such as Kuchenbecker and other cartons have several disadvantages. Their assembly from blank requires several steps including several gluing steps. The bottom panels of such prior cartons are either glued or hook fastened. Many of the blanks from which the prior cartons are assembled have shapes which result in substantial waste of the material from which the blank is cut. Many of the prior art devices also require a substantial amount of force to overcome mechanical hang-ups when opening a collapsed carton into its assembled form.
A collapsible six-cell carton cut from a single blank manufactured by Champion Packages is formed with three cells on each side of a longitudinal partition. The bottom includes four panels each hingedly connected on an outside edge to the bottom edge or vertical side of the carton, and on the inside opposing edge to one of four internal panels forming the partitions. Flaps hingedly attached to side edges of two of the bottom panels are glued to the other two bottom panels to form what is known as a "Himes bottom". The four vertical sides of the carton are hingedly connected end-to-end. Two of the internal panels are positioned transversely to the left of the carton in order to separate the cells longitudinally. The transverse internal panels are positioned transversely to the left of the carton in order to separate the cells longitudinally. The transverse internal panels have centrally located vertical slots which extend into the adjacent bottom panels to which they are respectively hingedly attached. The other two internal panels are positioned longitudinally the length of the carton, half of each passing through one of the abovementioned slots in order to create two cells at each end of the carton and the other half of each longitudinal internal panel overlapping in the center of the carton and hingedly fixed to the opposite transverse internal panel to create two centrally located cells. When two catercorner vertical edges of the carton are forced together, a hydraulic movement of the transverse interior panels and a concurrent withdrawal of the longitudinal interior panels from the outer cells through the slots occurs. The bottom outer edges of the interior longitudinal panels are curved upward and one of the vertical edges in each of the slots is vertically and longitudinally cut without curves so that the upward curving edges of the longtudinal interior panels act as cams and the transverse internal panels act as cam followers during the hydraulic movement. At the same time, two of the bottom panels are drawn upward pushing the other two panels to which they are glued until the carton is fully collapsed so that each connected internal panel--bottom panel pair rests flush against the side panel to which they are hingedly joined. By reversing the pressure on the catercorners, the carton snaps back open. One disadvantage of the Champion carton is that its construction requires five gluing steps including the gluing of two bottom panels to the other two bottom panels. This gluing limits somewhat the hydraulic movement of the panels during opening and closing. Another disadvantage of the Champion carton is that the transverse interior panels have upward curved outer bottom edges so that the outer portions of these panels do not completely partition the cells on opposite sides thereof. As a result, objects stored in these cells may not be completely protected from contact with each other.